This is a rather unusual question, but I was wondering about the use of bamboo as a cutting medium, specifically which type to use, whether I should take any extra safety precautions, and what thickness of stalk I should use. I've got a good deal of bamboo in my back yard, but have been rather worried about what it might do to the edge of my sword.

I realise most of us here probably aren't biologists of any sort, but general thoughts on bamboo as a medium would also be helpful.

Thanks, Alex

What are you going to cut it with?

I've cut some bamboo before. It needs to be green and living, forget trying to cut any that's dried up. If you are not going to cut it where it's growing, you can cut it down and cut it on a stand, but you need to cut it within a couple of hours of harvesting it. That being said, the big stuff is still a challenging cut, and one that needs experience and a little caution.

The main reasons I'm cutting bamboo are
a) It's abundant
b) There is relatively little preparation involved in comparison with other cutting mediums (leaving newspapers to soak, drinking milk, etc... I just have to intersperse it with the other mediums so I can make it last)
c) Most importantly, I haven't done much with cutting mediums harder than very tightly rolled and soaked newspaper wrapped in duct tape. I figure bamboo would be a nice harder cutting medium that would do relatively minor damage to the edge compared to, say, 1/2 inch plywood or a helm.